


You Sent Us Down to Die and Yet We Strived

by tvismything



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F, Octavia Blake & Clarke Griffin are Best Friends, Out of Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-23
Updated: 2015-04-27
Packaged: 2018-03-25 08:49:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3804226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tvismything/pseuds/tvismything
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clarke and Octavia are sent to earth five years before the Ark comes to earth.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fanfic and it is unedited so any mistakes are my own. I didn't know how to end this so I might end up writing more if people enjoy it or if I come up with an ending. I hope y'all enjoy it.

Clarke knew a secret and Octavia shouldn’t have been born, that is the only reason why they send them down to earth even if the two girls were only twelve years old, they threatened the illusion of peace that was the Ark. The two girls knew they would probably die, but both of them were too stubborn to cry when they were placed inside the pod, they spat profanities and hatred at chancellor Jaha and Clarke spat at her own mother, but they did not cry. They didn’t cry until the button had been pushed and they were out of sight from the Ark. Octavia was the first one to compose herself and she broke the silence between herself and the blonde stranger in front of her, “hey what’s your name?” she said it as nicely as possible but fear still crept into her voice. “Clarke” the blonde replied in between sobs, “Octavia she replied with less fear then before. The two girls made nervous small talk and got to know each other a little bit before their presumable demise. The two girls talked about anything they could think of until they hit the atmosphere and they remembered they were heading to their deaths, they were heading to earth. They knew they would hit the surface soon and they braced themselves for the impact.

           

When she got out of the pod she was amazed at what she saw. It was like nothing Clarke had ever seen, there were so many colors, and objects and sounds around her and the air was so much easier to breathe; she felt refreshed with each breath she took. She had a gash on her head and her right shoulder was dislocated but other than that she was fine. She was brought out of her own thoughts when she heard Octavia groan beside her. “Octavia, are you okay?” Octavia sat back in her chair and nodded her head, “I’m okay, I think, my head hurts and my right leg is killing me but other then that I’m fine.” Clarke wasn’t a healer, she was too young to even start learning, but her mom had taught her a few things and she used them to guess that Octavia had a broken leg and a possible concussion but she would be fine. Clarke looked around at her surroundings again and she was taken back again by the tall trees and the sound of nature, instead machine, around her. She was brought out of her own thoughts when she heard the sound of something running in their direction. She ran back over to Octavia and dragged her out of the pod and behind a bush. They watched as a group of horses came towards them. It wasn’t until the horses were right in front of them that they realized that people were on top of them. They were led by a fierce looking women with light brown hair and a sword on her back, she was followed by a young lady only a few years older than the two girls, she had green eyes and her hair was braided nicely down her back. Right next to her was a friendly looking young girl, around the same age as the other young girl, with jet-black hair and a beautiful smile plastered on her face. “ _We know you are still here, come out and show yourselves.”_ Neither of the girls understood a word of what came out of the leader’s mouth, but they were able to figure out that she was talking to them. Clarke stood and put her hands up, “we are over here, we don’t understand your language but we don’t mean any trouble, we didn’t even know people were still alive down here.” Clarke helped Octavia up and they moved out from behind the bush and stood in front of the women on horseback. “Where are you from?” the green eyed woman asked, “we are from the…the…” Clarke knew she was from space but for some reason her brain had stalled and she couldn’t say the words she wanted to; her vision got hazy and she felt nauseous. “We are from space,” Octavia said while giving Clarke a concerned look. The leader looked at the two girls and said, “my name is Anya of the Trigedakru” she then pointed to the girls behind her, “that is Lexa” pointing at the green-eyed girl, “and that is Costia.” Costia smiled and waved hello to them and they replied by doing the same.

           

After waving to the girl Clarke’s vision went hazy again and she collapsed to her knees, then it all went black. As soon as Octavia was forced to put weight on her leg she felt the bone snap and her skin tear. She screamed in pain, but again she didn’t cry. She thought they might just leave them there to die but she was relieved when she felt herself being picked up and placed on a horse along with Clarke. At some point Octavia passed out from the pain and her body needed to reset, when she woke up she found herself covered with furs and she was lying on a comfortable makeshift bed. She sat up and found her leg had been reset and the wound had been cauterized, there were also two wooden boards, one on each side of her leg, that were held in place by tightly tied strips of leather. _“You should make a full recovery if you let your leg heal.”_ Octavia turned towards the sound of the voice and found an older gentle man cleaning his hands and a young boy holding a cloth for him to dry his hands on. “I don’t understand your language.” Octavia said it almost apologetically and the man repeated what he had said this time in English so that she could understand. After the man dried his hands on the cloth, the young boy left. “Your friend is in the next tent over” the man she assumed was the healer told her, “she had quite a deep gash on her forehead and her shoulder was dislocated.” The man stepped closer to her, “I’ve done all I can for her, now it is up to her spirit to wake up.” Octavia and Clarke were both young, but they were mature beyond their years, Octavia looked at the healer and nodded her thanks. “What is your name?” she asked after realizing she did not know, “I am simply the healer, but the young boy you saw, his name is Lincoln.” He nodded once more at Octavia and then he left the room. She wasn’t left alone for long, a second later the boy named Lincoln ran in with two branches that he show her she could use as crutches until she could walk on her leg again. She thanked him and he nodded his head and ran off. Not even a minute after Lincoln left, the woman named Anya walked in. She didn’t look as cold and fierce this time around but she was still quite intimidating to Octavia, “how are you doing…” she looked at the young girl expectantly. “Octavia” the young girl replied after realizing what the older woman was waiting for. “How are you Octavia?”

           

It wasn’t until Anya asked her the same question she had been asked for several months while the pod was being made ready that she thought she might not be safe with these people. “I want to see my friend, I know she’s still asleep but I want to see her.” Anya couldn’t help but smile at the young girl’s awareness to make sure her friend was alive and unharmed by them. She motioned for Octavia to follow her and when they stepped outside she couldn’t help but smile in pride as the girl looked around the village called TonDc. The village was built outwards from the remnants of an old building that survived the bombs. The rest of the village was all tents and small wood cabins and the village was surrounded by a decent sized wall that was manned by two guards. It wasn’t the most impressive settlement, but the girl Octavia looked at it as though it was the most amazing thing in the world. “Come Octavia, your friend is over here.” She led Octavia into Clarke’s tent where Costia was washing her face and talking to Lexa about the changing seasons. When Anya walked in both girls moved to stand but Anya motioned for them to stay seated. Octavia followed in right behind her, “this is Octavia, she wanted to make sure her friend was okay.” Anya said and then moved to leave, Costia turned and gave Octavia a warm, welcoming smile as she motioned for the young girl to sit next to her. “Your friend strong, she wake up.” Costia didn’t know much English yet, but the smile and nod she received from Octavia told her she had used the right words. “Are we safe here?” Octavia asked Anya before she could leave; she hated it when people didn’t ask the question they wanted to, so she was always very blunt. “You and your friend are safe here until you both recover, then you can choose to join our clan, or you can leave and let nature decide your fate.” Octavia simply nodded and turned her attention on to Clarke.

           

Clarke didn’t wake up until two weeks later while Octavia was out getting a tour of the village from Anya and she left Costia and Lexa to look after her blonde friend. Clarke shot up taking in a deep breath as she did, she let it out and looked around her room in fear. She started to try and back away into a corner when Costia grabbed her arms, “You safe here, Octavia be back soon, calm and breathe.” Clarke looked at the young woman’s warm smile and calmed herself down as best she could.

           

“Octavia why were you and the sun haired girl sent down from space?” Anya asked her, Octavia had been blunt with her questions she deserved the same in return. “I don’t know why Clarke was sent down here, we didn’t meet until we were in the pod together.” It was a small lie, she knew why Clarke was sent down but Clarke could tell her herself, “I was sent down for being born.” Anya instantly stopped walking and gave Octavia a very confused and angry look, “why would the send you down here for being born?” Octavia was about to explain the one child policy that was enforced on the Ark but before she could a man ran over and told them that the blonde had woken up. Octavia moved as fast as she could on the crutches, almost falling more then once, when she finally got to Clarke’s tent she could tell the girl was scared. “Clarke, we are safe here.” Clarke gave her a confused look and said, “Octavia, are we on earth?” “Yes Clarke” Octavia replied, “Do you remember why you were sent down with me?” Clarke had to think for a minute and then it all came back to her, “the life system was failing and my father and I wanted to tell the public but we were caught and he was floated. They thought I was to dangerous to have around so they stuck me in the pod with you and they got rid of us.” Her voice got filled with more and more anger as she spoke until she was down right sinister when she said they had gotten rid of her. Clarke calmed herself down again and Octavia moved away from her to let Anya talk to her, “Clarke, how are you feeling?” Clarke looked at the woman’s soft and caring features that were so different from the features Clarke had met the first time around. “I am angry and I feel weak and I want to cry but I don’t want to give anyone the satisfaction of that.” Clarke didn’t have the strength to say she was fine so instead she was honest with the stranger who looked so kind but had eyes that told her she could also be fierce and possibly cold. Clarke felt comfortable around her because she felt like the woman’s face in front of her was honest and real. “You are weak because you have been asleep for almost eight days, your body lost its strength, it will take time but you will regain it and you could gain more then before.” Anya gave her a small smile before she continued, “you are safe here until you are healed, then you will have to make a choice to either join our clan or let the earth and nature decide your fate.” Clarke took the information much like Octavia had; Clarke nodded her head and started to process the information.

           

Anya liked the two girls, which was saying a lot since Anya rarely liked new people. She could see both girls being great warriors, maybe even the best the Trigedakru had ever seen, who were loyal to their commander and would be able to follow orders. Both girls were no older then thirteen summers and both Indra and herself would need seconds next summer when Lexa becomes commander and Indra hasn’t had a second for a couple of seasons now. She liked the honor she saw in the girls and she felt bad that they had been banished from the sky for such stupid reasons. She knew she was getting ahead of herself, but she couldn’t help the feeling she had about the two girls and the things they could accomplish.

           

As the weeks pasted Clarke and Octavia became best friends and they also became great friends with both Costia and Lexa. Lexa liked the two girls because even when they found out that she was two summers older than them and that she was going to be the commander they didn’t treat her any differently, they were always polite and formal when others were around, but when it was just the four of them, Octavia and Clarke threw formalities and manners out the window and treated her like a normal person.

           

It was Octavia who healed first, and as soon as she was able she told Anya she wanted to join the Trigedakru and be a warrior. Anya sent her to a tailor to get some new clothing and then she took her to the training grounds where a big burly man with long silver hair, that was tied in three places, and a silver, curly beard paced back and forth with his hands clasped behind his back as he watched the future warriors train. Anya introduced him as Alastair and she told Octavia that he would personally see to her training. He was a strict teacher but he always made sure she knew when she had done something right, which wasn’t often during the first week of training but it happened a couple of times. She enjoyed the training and the way that he pushed her to do better and to find the strength to press on when she felt drained of all her energy.

           

While Octavia trained with Alastair, Clarke continued to heal. Clarke would pass out or get dizzy out of nowhere and on a number of occasions it caused her to vomit. It took three months for the symptoms to go away and another week of making sure she was one hundred percent before she was allowed to talk with Anya. She wanted to join the Trigedakru, she was certain of that, what she was not certain about was whether she wanted to be a warrior or a healer. “I want to join your clan, but I’m split between wanting to be a warrior and a healer.” Anya couldn’t help but smile, “Clarke everyone trains as a warrior, everyone fights in battle except for those who stay behind to protect the children and the villages. People choose different things as they move through their lives, when a warrior becomes too old they can become a healer this is not a permanent decision. Do you understand what I am saying young one?” Clarke nodded her head and said, “Yes I understand, I want to be a warrior like Octavia.” Anya smiled again at the girl, “good, I will train you since Alastair has Octavia and Lexa was summoned to the capital for a couple of months.”

           

Anya was a hard teacher, but she was also very supportive. It took Clarke a couple of weeks to finally start making some progress in her training which consisted of; moving silently and quickly through the woods, hunting, hand to hand, and multiple weapons training. She was very good at moving through the forest, she was able to use every part of the earth to her advantage and because of that she moved better than everyone else in TonDC with Octavia being right behind her. She was also getting the hang of hunting; she understood that they needed to eat and that they weren’t taking more than they needed, but it was still hard to kill an animal. It was the fighting that gave her the most trouble though, she wasn’t a violent person at first, but when Anya told her to use the anger that was deep down inside her she became almost unbeatable.

           

Six months into training (seven for Octavia), Lexa became the new commander and she and Costia left to go meet the other Clans and try to make peace with them. It was a year later when the two women returned and Clarke and Octavia were the two best warriors the Trigedakru had seen in a very long time. While they were away Lexa and Costia got together and Octavia and Clarke couldn’t be happier for them. Clarke and Octavia were both fourteen now (adults in grounder culture) and Lexa and Costia were both sixteen. Clarke and Octavia still spoke to Lexa as they always had when they were in private and Lexa found it refreshing. They were all very good friends and they protected each other, but Lexa was still the commander and because of that they had to be formal with her while in public.

           

It had been three years since Clarke and Octavia had been sent to earth when they were given their first assassination order by Anya. Clarke didn’t like the assignment but she knew her and Octavia would follow through with it. Their targets were two Ice Nation generals who was scouting the Trigedakru’s villages looking for weak spots. Clarke and Octavia found their targets with ease and when Clarke plunged her blade into the general’s neck she felt something change inside her, she found that she didn’t mind killing if it meant protecting her clan but she pushed away the feeling of joy she barely felt after the kill. Octavia felt much of the same when she plunged her blade into the man’s heart, only she did feel joy in the kill. Clarke and Octavia soon became the thing of legends and myths amongst the other clans who called the two girls, “trikova gonas (shadow warriors).” They move through the forest with ease, jumping from tree to tree and finding ways to not have to slow down, they are never seen after they kill, they disappear and they wear cloaks that cover their weapons and hoods that hide their faces. As Lexa united the twelve clans their assignments became more and more focused on the mountain men and the raiding parties. Clarke and Octavia had faced groups as large as thirty raiders and came back with only minor cuts and bruises. It was after a particularly large group of thirty-five raiders, which were all dead now, that they learned that their friend Costia had been tortured and beheaded by the Ice queen.

           

Costia had been traveling back home to the boat nation when the Ice Nation grabbed her. They tortured her for two weeks and then they cut off her head and sent it back to Lexa. Clarke found it to be not only sick and twisted, but also just plain disrespectful to not send the body back whole. Clarke and Octavia stayed with Lexa as she grieved and dealt with the pain of the loss, and both girls were sad to watch the commander become emotionless and closed off. Clarke provided more comfort to Lexa because Octavia had been sent to the Ice Nation to capture the Ice Queen. Clarke helped Lexa deal with what happened and the two grew close but as much as Clarke wanted it to be more she knew Lexa had to heal first. Clarke became Lexa’s second although they were more like equals. Clarke helped Lexa finalize the alliance between the Clans and after Octavia brought back the Ice Queen and the three girls were able to have justice for their friend’s cruel death, and Lexa got her head, they were able to make peace with the Ice Nation so that they could take out Mount Weather.

           

Clarke became Lexa’s second and Octavia became Indra’s but they both made sure to stay in touch even though Clarke was at Polis and Octavia was still in TonDC. Things became peaceful for a while after the alliance was formed and the clans tried to figure out how to take down the mountain men. The only groups that caused trouble were the mountain men with the reapers, and the raiding parties. For almost two years there was peace between the clans and other then the threat of the mountain men and the various deadly animals, people weren’t afraid to leave their homes anymore, But just like everything it all changed one early morning.

           

The Commander and Clarke were in TonDC meeting with Indra and Octavia when they heard shouting coming from outside. The four of them ran outside and Clarke and Octavia watched in anger as the Ark crashed through the Earth’s atmosphere and crashed just a couple days, by horseback, away from TonDC. Clarke and Octavia were immediately sent out to scout out the crash, but were strictly instructed not to make contact first. Clarke and Octavia made it to the crash site on foot in three days and when they got there they were surprised to see that most people had survived the crash. Clarke saw her mom, Abby, and Octavia saw her brother Bellamy and it took all of their strength not to make contact with them. The girls watched them for a few days until one day while hunting Clarke felt the barrel of a gun press against the back of her neck, “any sudden moves and I shoot. Stand up slowly and walk towards the crash.” The voice was from one of the Arkers and Clarke cursed herself for getting sloppy because of her emotions. They were right outside of the camp and she watched as her mom made her way out towards the gate to bring them in, “I found someone who wasn’t from the ark, it seems like some people did sur-” he was cutoff when Clarke made her move, it was fast and smooth. She turned and grabbed the gun; she then kicked him in the stomach and used both hands to knock him to the ground. He was out cold and Clarke was left standing there. She called out to Octavia in trigedasleng, _“Okteivia go tell the commander I’m at the crash site and to not go to war just come to negotiate!”_ she heard Octavia whistle back right as she got surrounded by the Ark soldiers. She moved to slowly remove her weapons when she felt a burning pain rip through her shoulder, she didn’t even flinch, she just turned and punched the man who shot her in the nose before saying in English, “I was just removing my weapons.” This time they let her do it but it took a little more time due to the hole in her right shoulder.

           

They took her to Abby first and Clarke thought for sure her own mother would recognize her but after Abby asked for her name for the hundredth time Clarke realized that her own mother didn’t even know who she was. After Abby was done stitching her up she couldn’t stop herself from saying something, “ghosts always seem to come back don’t they mom.” Abby stopped her clean up and looked at the blonde, “Clarke?” it was barely a whisper but Clarke nodded her head before hopping off the table and saying, “I need to talk to the chancellor, you guys landed in Trigedakru territory and I’m the only hope in preventing a war between you both as much as I want you all dead.” Abby was about to say something when Kane walked in and said, “Abby you are needed out here.”

           

_“Clarke, there is a situation I need you and Octavia to take care of.”_ Lexa was at the gate, which didn’t surprise Clarke, but it did mean that something had happened. Clarke walked out of the Ark and simply walked out to stand by Lexa’s side. “The mountain men are about to attack I need you and Octavia to stop them, they are a force of about twenty strong.” Lexa spoke in English just to gauge the Arker’s reactions and when they looked horrified at the sound of twenty strong she couldn’t help but smile. The first shot rang out only seconds later and neither Clarke nor Lexa flinched. Clarke looked at Octavia who threw her a single blade and the two girls smiled and went to work. They moved through soldier after soldier making sure each one was good and dead. They only had four guys left when one of the soldiers landed a lucky blow on her leg. It wasn’t broken, but it hurt like hell. She let her anger take over and a minute later the last five guys were dead and both Clarke and Octavia had been painted red. Clarke walked back over to Lexa and her mother and then out of nowhere she spun and threw her blade into the chest of a soldier who had waited until the very end to try and take them by surprise. “Nice throw” Clarke smiled a thank you at Octavia. Clarke turned back to her mother and said, “as I was saying before being rudely interrupted, no one wants a war so lets talk about peace.”

           

Lexa and Octavia can barely hold their stoic looks when they hear Clarke act as though twenty-one men trying to kill them was just a rude interruption. Holding their emotionless masks in place becomes even harder when Abby has trouble responding to Clarke’s statement. Eventually chancellor Jaha intervenes and a peace is struck.

           

“Thank you for not killing them. I know you probably should and I would probably let you but I’m glad we chose peace as well, Costia would be proud.” And with Clarke’s words ringing in her ears and Costia telling her to go for it, Lexa cups Clarke’s cheek in her hand and brings her lips to Clarke’s. The kiss is like nothing Lexa has ever experienced before and if she didn’t have to catch her breath, she would never stop kissing the golden haired woman in front of her. When they awake in the morning, they are tangled in each other’s arms and they couldn’t be more comfortable.


	2. the end

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a little update to tie up the loose ends. I'm sorry it is so short, I got hit with a case of major writer's block, but I hope it is at least a semi-satisfying end to the story. I hope you enjoy! and again, any mistakes are my own.

Clarke awoke to the warmth of Lexa’s body against her own, and she couldn’t help but smile at the beautiful woman sleeping next to her. She got out of bed quietly and got dressed and for some reason she felt the need to add a couple of blades to her outfit. Once she was satisfied that she was ready for the day, she walked out into the cool morning air and smiled at the beautiful sunrise that was occurring in front of her eyes. She was soon joined by Octavia who Clarke had seen exit Lincoln’s tent, “It would seem that we both had a good night last night.” Octavia said as she smiled at the blonde, Clarke smiled back but said nothing. Once the sun provided enough light for them to spar without torches, the two girls went at each other right in front of the two camps. They were in need of the training, but they were also showing off in front of the people who had sent them down to earth in the first place. They trained until the sun was fully in the sky and both camps were fully awake. It had been such a peaceful morning for both girls, that they couldn’t shake the feeling that it was about to become utter chaos. Clarke was making her way back to Lexa’s tent when the first shot rang out and she felt intense heat and pain rip through her side. 

Lexa had just walked out of her tent when she heard the shot and watched as Clarke stumbled backwards and grimaced in pain. More shot rang out against both camps and Lexa realized that the mountain men had attacked. Within moments they were surrounded on all sides, but neither Clarke, who had just been right in front of her, nor Octavia could be found. 

Clarke and Octavia moved behind the soldiers from the mountain and silently made their attack. As soon as they killed the first two soldiers, they picked up their rifles and started taking them down one by one. Though they hated guns and they had never fired one before, they still knew how from their training and they had studied the weapons extensively over the years. Due to the surprise of their attack, it gave the Arkers a chance to fight back. The battle was bloody and lives were lost, but in the end the first wave of Mountain men had been defeated. Clarke and Octavia knew that more, a lot more probably, would come, this fight was still far from over. 

Clarke’s wound wasn’t fatal, but she still got it wrapped. Lexa had sent for reinforcements, and Clarke was working with Octavia’s brother who was apart of the security force. Bellamy was an ass at first, but he was growing on Clarke. By the time the scouts send word of mountain men in the area they were ready. 

The war was ended that day; the mountain men had grown impatient and had decided to do one massive attack against the commander. It was a poor decision and the mountain men were wiped out because of it. Clarke and Octavia reconnected with the sky people and Clarke and Lexa married. Peace was never really something that happened, but for the most part the world was an easier place to survive after Mount Weather was defeated.


End file.
